Sanitary shower stall



Oct. 4, 1966 D. A. CARLSON SANITARY SHOWER STALL 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJune 1'?. 1964 Oct. 4, 1966 D. A. CARLSON 3,276,042

SANITARY SHOWER STALL Filed June 17, 1964 :5 Sheets-Sheet 2 M' @www ATTOHA/EYJ Oct. 4, 1966 D. A. cARLsoN SANITARY sHowER sTALL 5Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 17, 1964 a//o/ A. Cdr/dof? INVENTOR.

ATTOH/VEYJ 3,276,042 Patented Oct. 4, 1966 f 3,276,042 e SANITARY sHowERsTALL David A. Carlson, P.O. BOX 168, Richfield, N.C. Filed June 17,1964, Ser. No. 375,705 18 Claims. (Cl. 4-146) This invention relates toshower stalls generally, and, in particular, to shower stalls which canperiodically clean the surface upon which the occupant thereof standswhile taking a shower.

' This invention has utility in connection with any shower stall;however, it is particularly useful in shower stalls which are to be usedby the public. For example, when public shower facilities are located inbus and train stations, public parks and beaches, etc., for use bytravelers, campers, swimmers, etc., maintaining the shower stall in aclean and sanitary condition is a constant problem.

A particular problem in this connection is the debris, such .as soapwrappers, toothpaste tubes, food scraps, partially used bars -of soap,etc., which will generally collect on the oor as the stall is occupiedby successive users. Further, where the stall also serves as a dressingchamber, as can the shower stall shown in my copending patentapplication Serial No. 233,214, filed on October 26, 1962, entitledSanitary Shower Stall, now Patent No. 3,132,350, there is the additionalproblem of laundry debris, such as wrapping paper, shirt stitfeners,etc., which will collect on the iioor.

Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a shower stallwhich will periodically remove the debris and vforeign material whichhas collected on the floor thereof.

Another object of this invention is to provide a shower stall which willpush the foreign material which has collected on the floor, laterallyolf the lloor.

Another object of this invention is to provide a shower stall which willmove the foreign material deposited on occupant supporting surface ofthe lloor laterally to a point remote therefrom where it can becollected for removal while the shower stall is unoccupied.

In many cases the foreign material may include items such as soap,candy, chewing gum, etc., which may tend to stick to the oor. Therefore,it is another object of this invention, and one of its importantfeatures, to provide a shower stall which will push the foreign materiallaterally olf the floor, while concomitantly directing a jet of uidagainst the foreign material to help move it olf the oor.

'Ihese and other objects, advantages, and features of the invention willbe apparent to one skilled in the art from a consideration of thisspecification, attached drawings and appended claims.

These and other objects are obtained, in accordance with this invention,by providing a shower st-all with means for moving the foreign material,deposited on the occupant supporting surface of its floor, laterally toone side of the oor where it may be collected for removal. In thismanner, the floor of the shower stall can be cleaned while the stall isunoccupied to provide a clean oor for the next occupant. In oneembodiment of the invention, in addition to moving the foreign materiallaterally to the side of the floor, it is carried to a point remotetherefor-m and deposited in a receptacle provided therefor. In anotherembodiment, a plurality of nozzles are provided to direct jets of fluidacross the surface being cleaned concomitantly with the moving of theforeign material laterally therefrom.

The invention will now be described in connection with the attacheddrawings in which:

FIG. 1 4is a horizontal sectional view through a shower stallillustrating an embodiment of the invention in which a member is movedlaterally across the surface of the floor, upon which the -occupant ofthe shower stall stands when it is in use, to thereby push the debris orforeign material on the occupant-supporting surface, llaterally towardthe edge of the floor; this embodiment being further provided with fluidjets for improving rthe Veiliciency of the cleaning operation; Y FIG. 2is a partial sectional View taken 'along line 2 2 of FIG. 1 showing aside View of the member which moves across the surface of the floor topush the .debris therefrom and the relative positions of the lluid jetslocated around the periphery of the floor;

FIG. 3 is a partial vertical sectional view of the shower stallillustrating an alternate embodiment of this invention wherein anendless belt is adapted to move lingers through `slots in the floor ofthe shower stall, to move the debris thereon laterally -to one side ofthe floor, and to carry it to a point remote from the floor where it isdeposited in a receptacle;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary isometric view of the lloor of the embodiment inFIG. 3 illustrating the fingers in position to move through the slotsprovided therefor in the floor;

FIG. 5 is a plan View of a iloor similar to that shown in FIG. 4,wherein the floor is covered with a layer of flexible material to makeit more comfortable for the occupant of the shower;

FIG. 6 is -a partial sectional viewthrough the floor of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a partial vertical section through a shower stall equippedwith yet another embodiment of this invention where the oor is pivotallymounted to move between an occupant supporting position and .agenerallyvertical position to move the foreign materialthereon laterallyto the side of the floor; and

FIG. 8 is another view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 showing, howthe debris collecting means located on the side of the floor to receivethe foreign material which falls from the lloor when it is moved to thegenerally vertical position shown, can be moved upward to further cleanthe floor where both the floor yand the debris collecting means are madeup of a plurality of spaced, parallel fingers.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. l and 2, fthe shower stall, generallyindicated by the number 10, is provided with double-walled, hollow, sidewalls 11, 12, 13 and 14,v

a bottom 15 and a oor 16, spaced above the bottom and having anoccupant-supporting surface 17. Floor 16 is supported by sidewalls 11,12 and 13 but extends only part way toward wall 14, its back edge 16a(shown by the dotted line in FIG. l) stopping Iadjacent the edge ofgrate 18 which covers the draintnot shown)'. The drain provides .anoutlet for the water used in the shower and floor 16 and bottom 15 arepreferably slanted toward the drain.

The lower edge 1 4a of the inside portion of side wall 14, as Vshown inBIG. 1, curves outwardly to a point above the floor adjacent edge 16a.This is done to keep the occupant of the shower from inadvertentlystepping off the floor onto -gr-ate 1:8. Prefer-ably the grate is belowthe level of floor 16 to provide suflcient storage space for the debriswhich is collected thereon so that it will*` not have to be cleaned'outtoo frequently.

In accordance with this invention, means are provided the pistons in thecylinders and the connecting rods, from its position adjacent front wall12, as shown in FIG. 2, laterally across occupant-supporting surface 17of the iioor toward grate 18, pushing ahead of it any foreign materialwhich has been deposited on the surface. By moving the cleaning memberpast edge 16a off the floor all of the foreign material it has pushedahead of it will be deposited on grate 18 and the iioor will be cleanedof debris and ready for the next occupant.

Means are provided to return the cleaning member to its positionadjacent wall 12 after the cleanin-g operation is completed. In thisembodiment, this is done by cylinders 2-3 and 24 which are of thedouble-acting ty-pe. Thus by reversing the side of the pistons againstwhich the fluid pressure acts, the cleaning member will be returnedtothe position shown in FIG. 2.- If desired, resilient means can beemployed for this same purpose.

As shown in the drawings, member is what is commonly known as asqueegee, having a relatively rigid body 20a to which is attached aflexible member 20b. The flexible member is usually made from an elas--tic material such as rubber, which will not only push foreign materialahead of it as it moves across the oor but will also remove the excesswater thereby allowing it to dry faster after the shower has been used.

'Instead of a squeegee as shown, a more rigid member could be used withan edge designed to scrape sur-face 17. This would insure that allforeign material, even chewing gum, etc., would be freed from thesurface and carried to the drain. Or, if desired, a brush could besubstituted for squeegee 20 to provide a sweepin-g action to push thematerial ahead of it as it moves across the surface.

To protect member -20 while it is not being used and the shower isoccupied, front Wall 12 is provided with a ledge-like portion 12a whichextends outwardly from Wal-l 12 over member 20 when it is in theposition shown in FIG. 2. In this way the occupant of the shower will beprevented from inadvertently stepping on member 20, or otherwisedamaging it while he is in the shower.

Since it is likely that some of the foreign material deposited onsurface'17 by an occupant of the shower will be of a sticky nature, suchas candy, mints, chewing gum, etc., means are also provided to wash thedoor concomitantly with .the exerting of a lateral force on t-hematerial by the cleaning member urging it toward the drain.

Thus, in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a plurality ofnozzles 26 are located around the periphery of the ilo-or and positionedto direct a stream of fluid against surface 17 which will tend to washany,

lateral force on the foreign material on the door after' the materialhas been at least partiallyloosened by the action of the jets.

As shownr in FIG. 2, the nozzles in wall 12 are located in ledge portion12a which extends outwardly over cleaning member 20 so the uid jets theyemit can flow unimpair-ed directly across surface 17 to the drain whilethe cleaning member remains under the ledge.

. It will be necessary, of counse, to periodically clean out the foreignmaterial which is collected in drain 18. This can be conveniently doneby providing a door (not shown) in rear wall 14 which will permit accessto the grate through the rear of the shower. l

An alternate embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 3 through 6.In this embodiment the shower stall, generally indicated with the number30, is provided with a bottom 31 in which the drain (not shown) islocated, an outer back wall 32 and an inner back wall 33. Spaced abovebottom 31 is iloor 34 for supporting an occupant of the shower,comprising a plurality of spaced-apart elongated members 35 which arecantilevered out from support member 31a attached to the bottom of theshower. By spacing members 35 apart a plurality of open-ended slots 36are provided in the iloor.

An endless belt 37 is mounted on rollers 38, only two of which areshown, to travel below door 34 and up into' chamber 41 formed by outerback wall 32 and inner back wall 33. Power means (not shown) areprovided to drive one of the rollers to move the belt during thecleaning operation` kAttached to belt 37 and carried thereby are aplurality of fingers 39, which are spaced apart across the belt so thatthey will extend upward into slots 36 between elongated members 35 andtravel through the slots as the belt moves below the door.

Fingers 39 are pivotally attached to belt 37 so they can pivot in thedirection of the travel of the belt, but they are provided with stopmeans 40 (as best seen in FIG. 6) which engage the belt and prevent thefingers from pivoting rearwardly beyond the position illustrated.

In this position, as the fingers move along 'open-ended slots 36 theywill engage any foreign material which has been deposited on the ioor bythe occupant of the shower stall and carry it laterally off the surfaceof theV door. As the lingers reach the end of open-ended slots 36, theendless belt will turn upward as is indicated by the dotted lines inFIG. 3 to cause the fingers to act as baskets in which the foreignmaterial which they have moved laterally off the iioor can be caught andcarried upward into the compartment between the two back walls.

As the fingers reach the top of their travel in rear com.

partment 41 and start their downward trip, they will, ,of course, dumpwhatever material they are carrying. To catch this material for removalfrom the shower stall an inclined ba-le 42 is arranged to deect thematerial falling from fingers 39 into storage compartment 43, where thematerial will be collected and from where it can be removed periodicallyas :the need demands. Baie 42 is provided with open-ended slots (notshown) adjacent its upper end similar to slots 36 in door 34 to allowlingers 39 to pass downwardly through the upper edge of Athe deiiectingmember after depositing the material they are carrying into the storagecompartment.

As many sets -of lingers as desiredcan be used. In FIG. 3, nine sets areillustrated; however, one set would probably be sufiicient to do the jobadequately. Preferably the fingers in each set are arranged on theendless belt in alignment, as in FIG. 4, so they will move along slots36 more or less as a unit. The width of slots 364 and members 35 and thenumber of slots provided can, =of c-ourse, be .varied as required.

A slotted oor, such as the type employed in this embodiment, may beuncomfortable for the occupant tov- 35, members 39 can extend readilythrough slots 36 andy perform their function as described above withoutany..

interference from the layer of flexible material.

Thus, when this embodiment is in operation, each time. it is desired toclean the floor, the power means used to` move belt 37 are energized andfingers 39 are moved along slots 36 to push the foreign material offelongated members 35, carry it to a point above receptacle 43 into whichit is dumped.

Yet another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8of the drawings. In this embodiment instead of moving debris pushingapparatus along the surface of the floor to move the debris later-allyto oneside of the floor, the oor itself acts as the means for moving thedebris to one side thereof.

Thus, as shown in the drawings, a shower stall, generally indica-ted bythe number 50, is equipped with a U-shaped floor 51 having one leg 51apivotally mounted above lbottom 50a of the shower stall by shaft 52.This .allows leg 51b of the oor to =be moved from the position shown inFIG. 7, where it provides -support for the occupant of the shower, tothe position shown in FIG. 8, where it is generally vertical to allowany debris or foreign material, which was deposited on the oor while itwas in use, to fall by gravity to one side of the floor.

Means are provided to move the floor between the two positions. In theembodiment illustrated a fluid operated cylinder 53 is mounted on thebottom 50a of the shower stall with its piston rod 53a pivotallyattached to leg 51a at a point spaced from shaft 52. The operating linesfor providing power fluid to cylinder 53 are not shown. Normally, theseextend to a point outside the shower stall where they are connected to asource of pressure. Valves are then provided to control the flow offluid lto move the piston (not shown) which is located within thecylinder and attached to rod 53a, up and down as desired to move leg 51bbetween the two desired positions. To further support leg Slb when it isin its generally horizontal occupant supporting position, a supportbracket 55 is attached to the wall of the shower stall to support theouter end of leg Slb when it is in this position.

Obviously, -the movement of floor 51 to a vertical position, as shown inFIG. 8, will cause most of any foreign material or debris, that is leftthereon by the occupant of the shower, to fall by gravity to one side ofthe oor. Preferably means such as grate S6, are also provided to catchthe material which falls from the oor to allow Iit to be periodicallyremoved and to keep it from collecting in drain 58.

Some foreign material such as, soap bars and candy wrappers, which maybe dropped, could stick to the floor and not fall to grate 56 when thefloor is moved to its vertical position. To help remove this -type yofdebris, means are provided to push this debris to one side of the floormuch in the same manner as was done in the previously describedembodiments.

Thus, in the embodiment illustrated, floor 51 comprises a plurality ofU-shaped fingers, which are arranged in spaced parallel position toprovide a slotted oor like that of the embodiment in FIGS. 3-6, uponwhich the occupant of the shower can stand. With this arrangement, whenpressure cylinder 53 moves leg 51b of the floor to its verticalposition, the slots in between the individual lingers of the floor arelocated above the individual fingers which make up grate 56. Then, bymoving grate 56 upward through the slots between the fingers by means ofpressure cylinder 57, the debris or foreign material which is adheringto the fingers to the extent that it will not fall therefrom, will beremoved by the grate. Afterward, the floor can be returned to itsoccupant supporting position as shown in FIG. 7 and the grate loweredback down into position to again be moved through the slots of thefloor, also shown in FIG. 7.

This movement of grate 56 through the slots between the individuallingers of door 51 is the same cleaning action as is obtained by lingers39 as they move through slots 36 between the individual fingers 35 ofthe floor in the embodiment described above in connection with FIGS. 3through 6.

If desired, a fluid-jetting system of the type described in connectionwith the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2 could be used along with theembodiments shown in FIGS. 3-8 to help keep the floor of the showerstall clean.

From the foregoing it will be seen that this invention is one welladapted to attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth,together with other advantages which are obvious and which are inherentto the, apparatus.

It will be understood that certain features and subcombinations are ofutility and may be employed without reference to other features andsubcombinations. This is contemplated by and is within the scope of theclaims. As many possible embodiments may be made of the inventionwithout departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood thatall matter herein set forth or shown in the :accompanying drawings is tobe interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. In a shower stall having -a oor with an occupantsupporting surface,the improvement, in combination therewith, of means for cleaning thefloor after the shower has been used and while the shower is unoccupiedcomprising means for pushing foreign mate-rial from theoccupant-supporting surface and means for moving the foreign materialpushing means parallel 4to the surface tio remove foreign materialtherefrom while the shower stall -is unoccupied.

2. The shower stall of claim 1 further provided with means for directinga stream of fluid across the occupantsupporting surface to help cleanthe surface of foreign material.

3. The shower stall of claim 1 in which the pushing means is a brushwhich sweeps the occupant-supporting surface as it moves laterallyacross it. l 4. The shower stall of claim 1 in which the pushing meansis a squeegee.

5. The shower stall of claim 1 in which the pushing means is providedwith an edge for scraping the occupantsupporting surface as it moveslaterally across it.

6. In a shower stall having side walls land a iloor with anoccupant-supporting surface, the improvement, in combination therewithof means for removing foreign material from the occupant-supportingsurface while the shower is unoccupied, comprising, means locatedadjacent one side of the shower stall for collecting the foreignmaterial, a member extending transversely across and engaged with theoccupant-supporting surface, and means associated therewith for movingthe member laterally across the occupant-supporting surface to push theforeign material on the surface into the foreign material collectingmeans while the shower is unoccupied.

7. A shower stall having side walls and a` floor with an occupantsupporting surface, said floor having a plurality of spaced, parallel,open-ended slots therein, means located adjacent one side of the showerstall for collecting foreign material, and means for moving through theslots in the floor to move foreign material on the occupantsupportingmeans laterally to the collecting means.

8. A shower stall having side walls and a floor with anoccupant-supporting surface, said floor comprising a plurality ofparallel, spaced fingers, means located adjacent one side of the showerstall for collecting foreign material, means pivotally mounting theiloor for movement between a horizontal occupant-supporting position anda generally vertical position adjacent the foreign material collectingmeans, and means for moving the floor from the horizontal to thevertical position to allow any foreign material deposited on the lingerswhile in occupant-supporting position to fall |by gravity onto theforeign material collecting means.

9. The shower stall of claim 8 in which the foreign material collectingmeans comprises a plurality of spaced, parallel lingers and means formoving the lingers between the lingers of the floor when the floor is inthe generally vertical position to remove any foreign material lodgedbetween the lingers of the oor.

10. A shower stall comprising side walls and a lloor having a surfacefor supporting the occupant of the stall,

said floor having .-a plurality of laterally extending, parallel slots;a plurality of lingers located in the slots and means for moving thefingers through the slots to remove at least a portion of any foreignmaterial deposited on the occupant-supporting surface.

l 11. The combination of claim 10 further provided with a 4layer offlexible material covering the occupant-supporting surface, and havingan open-ended slit located above and parallel to each slot in the oor toaccommodate the ngers as they travel through the slots.

12. A shower stall comprising, a floor having la surface for supporting.an occupant of the shower, said door having a plurality of elongatedparallel slots open at, at least, one end; means movably mounted belowthe floor and equipped with a plurality of fingers arranged to extendthrough the slots above the occupant-supporting surface; and means formoving the tingers along the slots toward their open end to engageforeign material deposited on the surface and push it laterally off thesurface.

13. The shower stall of claim 12 further provided with a receptacle andmeans for moving the fingers from the slots to a position above thereceptacle to carry the foreign material removed from theoccupant-supporting surface of the floor to the receptacle.

14. The combination of claim 13 further provided with a layer ofiiexible material on the occupant-supporting surface having slitsthrough which the fingers can extend and travel.

15. In a shower stall having a floor with an occupantsupporting surfacethereon, the improvement, in combination therewith of means for removingforeign material from the occupant-supporting surface when the shower isunoccupied, comprising, a Imember for pushing foreign material from. theoccupant-supporting surface, means for supporting the member inengagement with the occupant-supporting surface and -to move the memberlaterally across the sur-face to push any foreign material thereon offthe surface.

16. The shower stall of claim 15 further provided with means fordirecting a stream of fluid across the occupantsupporting surface of theflow concomitantly with the movement of the member.

17. A shower stall comprising side walls and a oor for supporting anoccupant of the shower, said floor having a plurality of spaced,parallel, lingers pivotally mounted to move from a generally,horizontal, position to support an occupant of the shower to agenerally, vertical, position to allow any foreign material deposited onthe fingers by lan occupant to be carried laterally to the side of theiioor, .and means for moving the fingers between the two positions toclean the floor.

18.,A shower stall comprising side Walls and a floor for supporting anoccupant of the shower, said floor having -a plurality of spaced,parallel, fingers pivotally mounted to move from a generally,horizontal, position to support an occupant of the shower to agenerally, vertical, positlon to allow any foreign material deposited onthe ngcrs by an occupant to be carried laterally to the side of the oorand means for collecting the material carried laterally by the fingershaving a plurality of spaced, parallel fingers and means for moving thefingers vertically between the fingers of the floor when the tloor is inits generally vertical position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,132,350 5/1964Carlson 4-146 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

H. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A SHOWER STALL HAVING A FLOOR WITH AN OCCUPANTSUPPORTING SURFACE,THE IMPROVEMENT, IN COMBINATION THEREWITH, OF MEANS FOR CLEANING THEFLOOR AFTER THE SHOWER HAS BEEN USED AND WHILE THE SHOWER IS UNOCCUPIEDCOMPRISING MEANS FOR PUSHING FOREIGN MATERIAL FROM THEOCCUPANT-SUPPORTING SURFACE AND MEANS FOR MOVING THE FOREIGN MATERIALPUSHING MEANS PARALLEL TO THE SURFACE TO REMOVE FOREIGN MATERIALTHEREFROM WHILE THE SHOWER STALL IS UNOCCUPIED.